Dovizioso plans further step forward

The Italian unearthed his best performance of the year last time out in Japan, never being out of the top two in any session, and taking the first pole of his MotoGP career before finishing second.

Dovizioso is increasingly at ease with his Honda RC212V and believes he will be even more competitive at Sepang than he was at Motegi.

"I'm really looking forward to the Malaysian Grand Prix," he said. "We arrive in a strong condition after not only an important podium finish in Motegi last Sunday, but also an entire race weekend where we were fast and consistent during every session.

"We made some good progress with the electronics and the machine set-up through the weekend, and so we arrive in Sepang in even better shape than Motegi. Our performance last weekend was the result of hard work - it was not by chance - and in Malaysia we can do even better.

"I really like the Sepang race track - it's one of my favourites and I have had good results in all GP classes, including my first MotoGP podium in 2008."

With Pedrosa almost certainly sidelined until the Australian GP, Dovizioso is confident he can carry the mantle, and pressure, that will come with being the main focus for Honda this weekend.

"All in all I'm very confident we can have another strong weekend," he said.